Which one is the best RGB, CMYK or Pantone?

I bet my wacom tablet that you already did a little confusing about this! Well, it’s time to learn the differences, should we start?

RGB – Red, Green, Blue, and light, mix everything to combine and make white, this is the additive color system. This system is used where have lights, such as mobile, screens, tablets, digital cameras, web (Facebook, Instagram, etc…), TV’s, etc… If your work will go appear in a digital device with a light behind the screen so you need to use the RGB color.

CMYK – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, black and Ink, mix everything to combine and make black, this is the subtractive color system. This system is used where have dyes, inks, paint pigments or natural colorants. You need to use the CMYK if you are gonna send your files to a print shop.

If you upload a CMYK file on you facebook, probably this image will be very dark, heavy and will lose some details. If you try to print an RGB you will have a too much clear and worn image with distorted colors. So that’s why we need to know which file is best for that moment. But then, if I do my business card on my laptop where have light, how I gonna do to print the right colors? Well, we have two tips: Use a pantone color or do a little test before send all to print.

PANTONE is a primary color table created by Pantone Inc. with specific numbering that serves as a reference to identify the exact color tone (100%) avoiding color variations in the print. Let’s say you have a blue in your brand, and want to have the same tom of blue in any print you want, so you go to a Pantone color table and choose the Lapis Blue 19-4045. This way you will have a 100% accuracy in any print, in any object you want.

Need an amazing CMYK Magazine Ad to print? Or a cute RGB brand to display on Amazon? Let’s talk 🙂

Lorrane Lillian

HI THERE, I'M LORRANE.
I found myself in creativity and innovation. Graduated in advertising, I can create powerful pieces of Design: Hand Draw logos, advertisements, flyers, digital layouts. No matter what it is, it will be amazing.